Basics regarding Cookies and Third-Party Tracking Cookies!

An HTTP cookie, popularly known as cookies, have been there in the web world but still the concept is not clear. The first misconception states that cookies are mere spyware or viruses and it’s better to maintain an ignorance level about how they work. The second misconception states that a lack of reliable interfaces to work with cookies. In spite of all these major misconceptions cookies plays are a very vital role in the web development.

A cookie is a minor section of data sent from a website and kept in the user’s web browser while the user is browsing it. Every time the operator or the user loads the website through a system, the browser sends the cookie back to the server to notify the user’s earlier action. Cookies are well-designed and are a dependable mechanism for websites to remember authentic information or to record the user’s browsing actions. Cookies can also store passwords and can form useful content which a user has previously entered, such as an address or a credit card number.

The tracking cookies are also known as third-party tracking cookies. They are commonly used as ways to accumulate long-term records of user’s browsing histories. Generally, a cookie’s domain attribute will replicate the domain that is shown in the web browser’s address bar, popularly known as the first-party cookie. But the third-party cookies belong to the domains which are different from the one shown in the address bar. They appear when web pages feature content, like banner advertisements from external websites. This unlocks the prospective of tracking the user’s browsing history, and it is frequently used by the advertisers in an effort to serve applicable advertisements to each user.

There are many restrictions regarding cookies in order to prevent misuse and protect both the browser and the server from harmful effects. There are two main restrictions like total cookie size and number of cookies. Twenty cookies per domain is the original specification limit for the cookies.

There are loads of information regarding cookies in order to use them efficiently. It is an absolutely remarkable piece of technique created more than ten years ago yet it is still used in the exact same way as it was first implemented. Cookies are a significant part of the web today and managing them inappropriately can lead to all kinds of disputes like security holes and poor user’s experience.